Among the Mundane
by Fukase
Summary: Fukase, an eager wizard-in-training, is sent to an unknown world in order to improve his magic. However, he has very little guidance and is ill equipped for the task. What sort of trouble will he get himself into in this strange new world?
1. Encounter

When wizards get stuck in trees, surely, they should be able to cast a simple levitation spell to get themselves out of such a predicament. However, that wasn't the case for a certain red haired wizard-in-training.

The disgruntled boy clutched the tree branch he was perched on as he scanned his surroundings with hopes of finding a solution. He was elevated too high up from the ground and there was nothing to cushion his fall so that he may jump down safely. He surmised that he was in a rural area since there were multitudes of plowed land and trees in the vicinity—and so, there was little hope that anyone would stop by.

In his frustration, he yelled at this companion. "Point, help me out here! Do something!"

"Fukase, kiddo, you're the one with magic here. _You_ should do something," Point—a small, white, humanoid creature—retorted. "You really oughtta pay attention to your wizardry classes. Maybe then you could have casted that levitation spell to get out of this tree. Or maybe you should have thought first before climbing a tree."

"Hey now, give me some credit. I do actually know the spell!" Fukase—as he was called—responded indignantly and then paused. He continued in a more subdued tone, "…But I can only use it on small objects."

Point simply shook his head in discontent at the wizard's incompetence. Suddenly, he stiffened and whispered, "Hold on. Someone is coming." He fell limp into a doll-like state and rested against the boy's knee.

Fukase stuffed Point into his satchel and listened intently to his surroundings. Among the rustling of leaves against the wind, there was a faint tune of cheerful whistling. The sound gradually became more pronounced, so Fukase turned to the direction the melody originated from.

Within moments, the whistler approached into plain sight; a young boy—in denim overalls and a plain white shirt with messy blond hair tucked beneath a sailor cap—skipped around as he continued with the tune. He seemed to have taken no notice of the miserable wizard stuck on a high tree branch.

Fukase didn't want to take his chances of losing potential help. "Hey, you there!" He shouted as clearly as he could from the distance between them. "Would you please help me down from this tree?"

The blond boy stopped in his tracks and faced the trajectory that the voice came from. He tilted the brim of his hat to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun as his gazed wandered up the tree. "I can go grab you a ladder." He had a certain softness to his voice that made it difficult to hear amongst the wind. As he turned to leave, he shouted as a follow-up, "I'll be back!"

Once the boy was out of sight, Fukase sighed in relief—half to himself, and half to Point. "I guess we lucked out, huh?" He asked rhetorically as he patted his bag; Point gave no answer and remained motionless.

With the burden of escape off his shoulders, Fukase took some time to scout his surroundings more carefully. In the distance, an old farmhouse sat among a sea of trees with a barn in the adjacent area to it; Fukase inferred that the boy had went off to that direction. Nothing really seemed interesting nor out of the ordinary.

The atmosphere was quiet and peaceful—perhaps a bit too peaceful for the young wizard's liking. A frown crept onto the corners of his lips at the prospect of staying in such a mundane world; he wondered why he was sent to such a place without magic. However, he had not much time to ponder as the unnamed boy returned with a wooden ladder.

"Hey, I'm back. Sorry, it took a while to get here," the blond said as best as he could while nearly out of breath. The ladder was about twice his height and appeared quite heavy for him to carry alone. He unfolded and pressed the ladder against the base of the tree so that it would not collapse. He then gave it a gentle jolt to test its stability. Satisfied, he looked up and instructed, "You can climb down now."

Fukase glanced at the ladder with delight that he would finally be freed from the elevated prison. He balanced himself and proceeded to descend from the branch. Once he determined that he was close enough to the ground, he jumped off—skipping the last few steps. He sighed in relief that he was once more reunited with a solid surface.

As Fukase steadied himself after the jump, he turned his attention towards his savior—who peered back at him with great interest. Upon closer scrutiny, he noticed that the boy was quite young and had bandages wrapped around the left side of his face. As curious as he was, Fukase figured it would be best to thank him first.

However, before Fukase could say anything, the wind picked up and carried the blond's hat to the top of the tree the redhead was previously on. The hat was snagged onto a sharp branch too far up for them to reach with the wooden ladder.

Eyes widened with anxiety, the boy immediately turned to run towards the direction of the barn. "Sorry, I need to go grab some tools to get my hat back!"

 _What's his problem? Is that hat really that important?_ Fukase wondered to himself and smirked. _Maybe my magic will finally be put to good use._

Once the blond was nearly out of sight, Fukase raised his staff—with a bit of concentration—and lifted the hat off from the branch. However, the wizard hadn't realized that the boy had turned back to retrieve the ladder he had left behind.

"What is this sorcery?" The boy blurted out his question with perplexity.

Cold sweat surfaced from Fukase's forehead. "Err…well, you just answered your own question." His voice trembled as he spoke.

"That was amazing!" The boy's initial shock had turned into inquisitiveness. "I have so many questions but I don't know where to start."

"I guess the cat's out of the bag, eh?" Fukase let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm Fukase. Wizard-in-training." He handed the hat back to the curious boy. "Thank you for getting me unstuck earlier."

"Ah, my hat! Thanks!" The blond gingerly traced the hat before securing it back onto his head. "My name is Oliver and I'm just a farm boy." His glance shifted back to the redhead. "Also, you should definitely show me more magic tricks sometimes."

"You're going to have to keep this magic thing a secret though." Fukase grinned slyly.

"Deal!" Oliver responded almost immediately. "Well, thanks for getting back my hat for me. What can I do to repay you?"

"You already helped me out earlier, but if you insist…" Fukase cleared his throat before he continued. "Point and I just arrived in this world and we need a place to stay in. Can you provide that?"

"Point?" Oliver tilted his head in confusion.

"That would be me." Point popped out of an opening on the side of the satchel and waved. "And no, I'm not a doll," he said in anticipation of the question.

"That is awesome!" Oliver exclaimed. He then paused for a moment and remembered he had yet to respond to the request. "Oh, and I'm going to have to talk over this with my guardians first."

"Guardians?" Now it was Fukase's turn to inquire with disorientation.

"Don't worry, they're really nice." Oliver giggled at the redhead's unwarranted concern. He tugged on Fukase's sleeve with eagerness. "C'mon, let's go discuss the arrangements now!"

And with that, Fukase let himself be dragged off into the direction of the farmhouse. Even in such a mundane world, things were surely going to get interesting.


	2. Welcome to the Family

"So, this here boy needs a place to stay in?" A burly man asked as he glanced over at the dazed wizard. His height nearly reached the ceiling of the lobby and a scar stretched across his forehead, giving him a cantankerous aura. He stared inquisitively at Fukase as he processed Oliver's plea.

Moments before the two boys had arrived at the doorsteps of the farmhouse, they briefly discussed how they could convince Oliver's guardians to give shelter to the young wizard. Although Oliver had an aversion to lying to his guardians, they concluded that they must fabricate a story to hide Fukase's identity as a wizard. In the end, the blond did most of the talking as the other boy stood there in trepidation of the man's menacing appearance.

"Please, Uncle Al? He really has nowhere to go." Oliver tugged on the man's sleeve as he begged.

The man scratched his chin and leaned forward for a closer look at the redhead. He squinted as he inspected Fukase's enigmatic getup, causing the boy to twitch in fear like a prey about to be attacked.

"Now, now, sweetie—you're scaring the poor boy." A thin blonde woman placed a hand on Al's forearm. She flashed a warm grin at Fukase and continued, "There's no need to be afraid of him. He's quite the softie and he means well."

Fukase exhaled his breath and twiddled with his staff behind his back. "I promise I won't cause any trouble, sir and ma'am. I'll help out if you need assistance with your work." He glanced over at Oliver, who grinned back, for reassurance.

Al chuckled and approached Fukase. "You? Help out?" He grabbed the boy by the upper arm. "You're as scrawny as a twig! We ought to feed you first before you do any toiling." He rested his arm on the woman's shoulder. "My wife Ann here makes the best meals, so don't you worry about starving."

"So, does this mean he can stay with us?" Oliver's eye brightened with joy.

"Why, of course he can! I'm no monster to let a boy in need brave the wilderness on his own." Grinning, Al held out his hand to the young wizard. "Welcome to the family, kid. We're glad to have you with us as well as giving Oliver here a new friend." Despite his gruff appearance, he seemed amicable with his cheerful tone and genuine smile.

While Oliver leapt with glee, the redhead hesitated at the outstretched hand. Fukase awkwardly reached out for the handshake and jolted in surprise at the man's grip. He let out a nervous laughter as they shook hands.

"You're free to call for us anytime you need help, dear," Ann said as the two completed their handshake. She turned to the blond boy. "Oliver, could you please show Fukase to his room? He can take the guest room since it's not occupied."

Oliver nodded and giggled. "Thanks, Uncle Al and Aunt Ann!" He tugged on Fukase's sleeve, ushering the redhead to follow him.

As he was pulled along, Fukase turned his gaze back to Oliver's guardians. "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay." The two smiled and waved as he left the room.

* * *

While Fukase was escorted to his room, he observed the unfamiliar environment. The farmhouse was small but was cozy and had a homely feel to it: polished wooden floorboards squeaked as they treaded along, dusty photos hung along the dimly lit hallway, the smell of fresh hay permeated throughout the area. Although the home was distinctly aged, the quaint ambiance allowed Fukase to relax his tensions.

Just a little to the right of the staircase they ascended from, they halted in front of an old, wooden door. Rays of light gently peeked from underneath the entryway. Oliver twisted the rusty knob, which he turned several times before it finally clicked open. As they walked in, the setting sun gave off minor glares of light, brightening the room with warm hues.

"This is your room, Fukase. It's probably a bit dusty though since no one's used it for a while now." Oliver dragged a finger across the dresser near the door, leaving particles of dust trickling as he retracted his hand.

Fukase walked over to the bed with plain sheets and patted it for dust. When nothing came about, he flopped onto it, letting out a sigh from his exhaustion. He set aside his satchel and checked on Point, who was soundly asleep.

"I guess Aunt Ann changed the sheets a while ago, so that's good. We can save the cleaning for tomorrow then." Oliver peered out the window, which displayed a magnificent view of the sunset with gradients of orange. He glanced back at the door—making sure it was shut from any intrusions—before he jumped down on to the bed next to the tired wizard. "Now, you've got to tell me more about your world! There has to be some amazing things there."

Fukase groaned, not even bothering to face the blond. "Can't we save this for another time? It's been a tiring day already." He sat up and gestured to his slumbering companion in his bag.

"Aw, c'mon please. Just a little?" Oliver pouted, trying not to show his disappointment.

Fukase twirled around his staff and sighed. "Well, the wizard world really isn't that different from this place. It's quite peaceful most of the time, anyways." He maneuvered towards the windows to shut it from the incoming frigid air.

"What about the creatures then? There must be something interesting out there like Point." Oliver shifted his gaze over to the motionless humanoid. "What is he anyways?"

Fukase paused for a moment to ponder his response. "Point is…well, he's not really something that different from humans, I guess." He stifled a nervous chuckle as he recalled his lack of attention to his wizardry classes.

Oliver sighed as he considered his peer's fatigue. "Fine, I'll ask you tomorrow then—but you must answer my questions next time. Promise?" He sat up and headed towards the exit as the redhead sluggishly nodded in response. "My room is right across from yours, so just knock if you need anything. I'm going to get some sleep myself later as well."

As soon as the blond was out of sight, Fukase laid back down onto the comforts of the bed. Nuzzling his cheek against the pillow, his eyes gradually drooped until they were shut. Within moments, he drifted off to a deep torpor as though it had been an eternity since he slept on such a soft surface.


End file.
